Escape from Cockatoo Island by Yvette Poshoglian

Olivia has been sent from the orphanage in Newcastle where she grew up to Biloela on Cockatoo Island in the middle of Sydney Harbour. At Biloela, she is to learn the necessary skills for a house servant, before being placed with a Sydney family. The industrial school is more like a prison than a place of learning and Olivia struggles to survive here. The only compensation is that she meets new friends. Her needlework skills may be improving, but she is a long way from the school’s version of ‘employable’. Her writing skills must remain hidden, so she writes her diary at night under the covers. As her friends find families, Olivia begins to believe she will never escape from this island. Historical Notes at the end of the novel give background to the existence of this prison school on an island, and the reason there were so many girls there.

Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour

8th August 1879

Tonight I clutch you to my heart, dear copybook. Thankfully your soft leather folds and my precious quill and ink were protected as we rowed from Kelly’s Bush and pulled ashore at the Fitzroy Dock.

Although the water was choppy and my petticoats got wet, I had you tucked safely into my bodice so that no one could find you. Your pages stayed dry and my name, Olivia Markham, hasn’t blotted on the front page where I wrote it last Christmas Day.

Olivia has been sent from the orphanage in Newcastle where she grew up to Biloela on Cockatoo Island in the middle of Sydney Harbour. At Biloela, she is to learn the necessary skills for a house servant, before being placed with a Sydney family. The industrial school is more like a prison than a place of learning and Olivia struggles to survive here. The only compensation is that she meets new friends. Her needlework skills may be improving, but she is a long way from the school’s version of ‘employable’. Her writing skills must remain hidden, so she writes her diary at night under the covers. As her friends find families, Olivia begins to believe she will never escape from this island. Historical Notes at the end of the novel give background to the existence of this prison school on an island, and the reason there were so many girls there.

Escape from Cockatoo Island is a new offering in Scholastic’s My Australian Story series. Each title puts a fictional character in a particular place in Australian history. Escape from Cockatoo Island is told in first person and the reader has the opportunity to travel with the main character through their experiences. Olivia has been fortunate to be able to read and write, as so many of her companions cannot. Although she has been very accepting of her life so far, she begins to long for more. Other possible outcomes for Cockatoo Island residents are showcased in her friends and acquaintances. The reader also learns a little about ‘street arabs’ and other children who end up at the school. Recommended for upper primary readers.

Escape from Cockatoo Island (My Australian Story)

Escape from Cockatoo Island , Yvette Poshoglian Scholastic Press 2013 ISBN: 9781742832456

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

Available from good bookstores and online .

Ella and Olivia: Cupcake Catastrophe, and Ella and Olivia: Best Friend Showdown by Yvette Poshoglian ill Danielle McDonald

Ella and Olivia are sisters.
Ella is seven years old.
Olivia is five-and-a-half years old. They live with their mum and dad and little brother Max.
Ella is busy baking. She is wearing an apron and holding a wooden spoon.
A packet of flour is open.

Ella and Olivia are sisters.

Ella is seven years old.

Olivia is five-and-a-half years old. They live with their mum and dad and little brother Max.

Ella is busy baking. She is wearing an apron and holding a wooden spoon.

A packet of flour is open.

Ella and Olivia are making cakes for Dad’s birthday. They want these cupcakes to be a delicious surprise for Dad when they have his birthday afternoon tea celebration. They gather all the ingredients, Olivia acting as assistant to the older Ella. Then there’s the mixing, the dividing of the mixture into patty papers, cooking, cooling then icing. Each step has the girls working together with Mum’s help as necessary. Finally it’s time to get ready, time for afternoon tea. Perfect.

Best friends Ella and Zoe like the same things and often play at each other’s houses. Zoe thinks Olivia is cute, and Ella loves Zoe’s cat. And they are both very excited when their teacher announces a chocolate drive to raise money and there’s to be a reward for the student who sells the most. Ella and Zoe usually like to do everything together, but they both also want to sell the most chocolates. The competition threatens to undermine their friendship. But unexpected help arrives to set them back on track.

 

Ella and Olivia is a new series from Scholastic for new readers. They are perfect for newly confident readers making the transition from fully-illustrated texts.  The text is large and sentences and chapters short. There are black and white illustrations on each opening and a decorative border to each page. These are realistic stories with age-appropriate dilemmas. Like other early reader options, they are likely to be shared among some young girls, and collected by others. Recommended for early primary readers.

Cupcake catastrophe (Ella and Olivia)

Ella and Olivia: Cupcake Catastrophe by Yvette Poshoglian ill Danielle McDonald Scholastic Australia 2012 ISBN: 9781742833545

Best Friend Showdown (Ella and Olivia)

Ella and Olivia: Best Friend Showdown by Yvette Poshoglian ill Danielle McDonald Scholastic Australia 2012 ISBN: 9781742833552

review by Claire Saxby, Children’s Author

www.clairesaxby.com

Every Minute in Australia, by Yvette Poshoglian

170 pages of facts with a very Australian focus – with Vegemite, Cottees cordial, sport stars such as Cathy Freeman and landmarks such as Uluru all included.

Every minute in Australia $730 will be spent on bottled water, 9.5 avocados will be grown and 673 kilograms of cheese will be made. But that’s not all, because at the same time 749, 619 tonnes of iron ore will be mined, 41 boxes of Weetbix will be bought and 95 people will take off or land at Sydney airport.

These sometimes quite staggering figures (all that iron ore!) and loads more are revealed in this nonfiction offering. Every Minute in Australia is 170 pages of facts with a very Australian focus – with Vegemite, Cottees cordial, sport stars such as Cathy Freeman and landmarks such as Uluru all included.

The facts are divided into categories including food, animals, sport, technology and more. And whilst most pages include a statistic which converts items into times per minute, there is a lot more information and explanation. For example, the Vegemite page (page 8 ) tells us that 41 jars are brought per minute, which equates to 22 million  jars per year, before going on to explain what Vegemite is, who invented it and more.

Not just random facts, the book takes the time to educate and inform on issues including water usage (and wastage), recylcing, illnesses such as cancer and more. There are also activites for young readers to have a go at in each section.

This is a fun nonfiction offering which will appeal to primary aged readers.

Every Minute in Australia

Every Minute in Australia, by Yvette Poshoglian
Scholastic, 2012
ISBN 9781742832128

This book can be purchased in good bookstores or online from Fishpond.